Process for oxidizing or carbonizing fuel



May 4, 1926. v 1,582,952

U. WEDGE PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING OR CARBONIZING FUEL Fild Jan. 25, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATFOE/VEY.

May 4 1926.

u. WEDGE PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING OR CARBONIZING FUEL Filed Jan. 23, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 e m m w May 4 1926. 1,582,952

u. WEDGE PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING OR CARBONIZING FUEL Filed Jan. 23, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented May. 4, 1926.

UTLEY WEDGE, OF PAOLI, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Application filed January 28, 1925. Serial. No. 4,179.

T.) all whom z't may concern: Be it known that I, UTLEY WEDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paoli, in the county of Chester and State of Penn-' sylvania, have invented a new anduseful Process for Oxidizing or Carbonizing Fuel,

- force radially across. the annular bed either of-wh-ich the following is a specification.

The principal object of t e present nvention is to economically and satisfactorily oxidize or carbonize fuel, including finely divided anthracite or bituminous or lignite coal or other'solid carbonaceous fuel e1ther to ash or to coke and in such a way that the process may be carried on continuously, automatically economically, and efiiciently.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description. Generally stated, the process of the invention ma be said to comprise establish- 0 ing and mamtaining an annular ignited fuel bed to one rim of which fresh fuel is supplied and from the other-rim of WhlCh solid residue or matter is withdrawn, and impel-' ling the 'fuela'cross sand bed from one rim to the other rim thereof by the appllcation of mechanical rection from the rim at which the fresh fuel is supplied toward the other rim.

The invention also comprises the improvev ments to-be presently described and finally claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to. the accompanying drawings illustrative of the following description of the invention.

In the drawings-- Figure lis an elevational view,fpartly in .vertical section, of ap aratus adapted for o use in the practice of t e invention;

line 2-2 of Figure 1. Y Fig. 3 is .a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure Lwith parts omitted.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view of 4 anotherform'ofj apparatus adapted for use in the practice of the'invention.

Fig. 5 is alike view of still another form of apparatus adapted for'use in-the practice pm of theinvention, and v i .Fig. 6'is a'plan'view drawn to .an enlargedfscale of one of the parts shown in to it radially in either direction and at one force in generally radial di- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the 7 a meansfor fcrowding in fresh fuel and for It is a feature of the process of the in-.. vention that the ignited fuel of the annular fuel bed is impelled or driven by the application of mechanical force radially across the fuel bed. The i itedfuel may be thus driven .by the app ication of mechanical The ignited fuel of the annular fuel'bed is supported against movement by gravity and the mechanical force may be applied of its rims by any suitable means. In the 6 drawings I have illustrated the employment of several such means without intending to confine the invention thereto but. for the purpose of describing the invention.

Referring to all of the figures there is shown a rotating grate 1,,upo1'1 which the i gnited annular fuel bed is supported.

As shown in Figs. land 2'there is arranged above the grate and at .the outside rim of the ignited fuel of the annular fuel bed a'-wall 2, which may be described as of helical or volute form, and at the center of the annular fuel" bed there is a; discharge opening 3; The dash and dot line in Fig.

2 is concentric with the'grate and is provided toshow the volute or helical form, referred to. Fresh fuel is supplied'at 4 as by the supply device '5, and the revolution of the grate or fuel su port 1, in the direc'- tion of the arrow in ig. 2 in co-operation with the wall 2, operates. ,to apply mechanical 'force to'the rim of the fuel be'd in'radial direction for crowding or impelling the ignited fuel acros the fuelbed from the peripherytoward the center thereof 9 Referring to. Figs. 5 and 6, the stationary impellers 2 between which the fresh 'fuel is supplied, asat4;.by asupply device 5, in co-operat-ionwith the moving grate'are' impelling the-ign-ited fuel across the. annular I fuelbed by mechanical force radially applied. this case the ignited fuel is imelledby mechanical force across'the'annular 10o uel bed-from the center outward over the periphery of the grate.

Referring to Fig. 4, the oiiver driven device 2 is a means for app ying mechanical- I power in radial direction to therim of the ignited fuel bed as well as a means for supplying and crowding in fresh fuel. In this case the applied mechanical force operates to feed the ignited fuel across the fuel bed toward an opening 3 at the center thereof.

In the foregoing description reference has been made to the rotation of the fuel bed in respect to a fixed co-operating element such as 2 or 2, but I desire to state that the element 2 or 2 may rotate in respect to a fixed fuel bedbecause it is the relative movement that o erates to apply-mechanical force which impe s the fresh fuel and the ignited fuel radially across the bed.

For the sake of further description it may be said that in an annular zone adjacent to the fresh fuel feed there is considerable evolution of gas and that in succeeding concentrically arranged and horizontally disposed annular zones the oxidation or carbonization may be carried substantially to ash or it may be carried to coke. One important feature is that the constituents, including the ignited fuel and the fresh fuel in the annular fuel bed are crowded or im-' pelled acrossthe bed by the application of mechanical force to a rim of the fuel bed in radial direction, so that the rate of movement is accurately controllable and controlled. However, and tendency of material to flow or.run may, if desired, be restricted and the fuel bed at and near the discharge zone may be kept level by opposing, but not overcoming, the applied mechanical force. One way of doing this is to restrict the discharge of ashes or carbonized material. Referring to Fig. 1, the annular lip 6, when present, retards the travel of the fuel in horizontal direction and opposes its flow in respect to the discharge opening.

' The rotating ash disc 7, is a means for retarding the escape of ashes and by adjusting its scratper 8 radially the downward movement 0 the ash column above the isc can be regulated. In Fig. 4 the disc 711s shown but not the lip 6 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 5 the discharge of ash is not restricted. It may be said that once the fuel is in the ignited fuel bed, the ignited fuel is moved by forces in which gravity plays no substantial part and which are develo ed by the expenditure of power. The annu ar fuel bed is disposed generally horizontally and the m vement of t e fresh fuel once it reaches/flit fuel bed is generally horizontal, and for that reason the force of gravity plays no substantial part in moving the ignited fuel. In cases where the oxidization is carried to ash, or, in other words, where the fuel is burned, the ash is substantially free from unconsumed carbon and may be 'quite cool when it is withdrawn from the fuel bed, thus the process is efiicient and economical.

It will of course be understood'that air is supplied to the fuel bed and, as indicated by providing the grate or fuel support 1 with openings.

It is an advantage of the present invention that it provides a ring of fire which in many commercial applications is very desirable, for example, in applying heat to the inside surface of the water leg 9 of a cylindrical vertical boiler. Again the center of the. ring of fire is com aratively cool, as has been indicated, whic is desirable, because, for example, it provides for the use of a support 10, to which various fire working tools can be secured Without exposure to undue heat.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modifications may be made in details of procedure and in matters of mere form without departing from the spirit of the invention whichis not limited as to such matters or otherwise than as the prior art and the appended claims may require.

I claim:

- 1. The process of oxidizing or carboiiizing fuel which consists in establishing and maintaining an annular ignited fuel bed to one.

across the bed by applying mechanical force to a rim of the fuel bed in generally radial direction.

2. The 1process of oxidizing or carbonizing fuel whic consists in establishing and maintaining an annular bed of ignited fuel to the periphery of which fresh fuel is supplied and-from the center of which solid matter is withdrawn, and crowding fresh and ignited fuel across the bed by the application of mechanical force radially at the periphery of the fuel bed.

3. The process of oxidizing or carbonizing fuel which consists in establishing and maintaining a generally horizontal annular bed of ignited fuel, supporting said bed against movement by the force of gravity, supplying fresh fuel to one rim of the bed and withdrawing) residual product from the other rim of the ed, and moving fresh and ignited fuel generally horizontally across the bed drawn, and impelling fresh and ignited fuel by the application of mechanical force to a rim of the bed in radial direction.

4:. The process of oxidizing or carbonizing fuel which consists in supporting the ignited fuel of an annular fuel bed against-movement by gravity, and compelling movement of the ignited fuel radially across said bed by forcing fresh fuel into the bed atone rim thereof and withdrawing solid combus fuel radial y across the annular bed by horizontally crowding fresh fuel into the mass. of ignited fuel at one-rim of the bed and by withdrawing solid residue at the other rim of the fuel.

6. The process of oxidizing or carbonizing fuel which consists in sup orting the ignited fuel of an annular fuel bed against movement by gravity, moving the ignited fuel radially across the annular bed by horizontally crowding fresh fuel into the mass of ignited charge zone by restricting the withdrawal of the solid residue.

UTLEY WEDGE 

